The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Sometimes you need to just take the win and move on. This may be one of those times. I don’t know if it is a good or bad thing that we are 6 games into the NFL season, the Bengals are 4-2, yet they have yet to play a good game.

 

The Good:

Creativity on Offense – Jay Gruden finally showed some useful plays on Sunday. I liked the swing pass to Gio, the reverse to Jones, and the multiple screen passes (Jones and Green). The short screen and swing passes got Dalton off to a quick start, got his confidence up, and they worked well.

 

Goal Line Stand – That is back to back weeks this defense has had a goal line stand. That stand was huge for many reasons and in the end, may have won the game. I would just like to know where that defense was on the Bills first drive and the 4^th quarter.

 

Whitworth Downfield Blocking – Boy did I love seeing Whitworth get out there on the screens and reverses. The block of the year has to be Whit’s one-armed throw down of Jim Leonard! Leonard looked like he ran into a wall (known as Whit’s right arm) and Whit just kept rolling down field and making another block.

 

Dalton – With the exception of the INT (which we will talk about soon enough), Dalton played well and did what he needs to do. He had a good completion percentage (65%), he took what the defense gave him, he completed the short passes, and he made a couple nice throws down field – the TD to Green was a nice pass, the Sanzenbacher pass on 4^th downs was excellent, and the sideline pass to Sanu was also well thrown. My favorite play though was Dalton’s improvised scramble and shuffle pass to Gio for TD. That showed me that Dalton can make plays if he stays within himself.

 

Defense after Dalton’s Pick – Dalton’s pick could have been catastrophic and cost the Bengals the game, but the defense bailed him out with an impressive stand at midfield just before the half. The Bills had the ball at the Bengals 38 and a chance to tie the game or at least cut it to 4 right before half, and then get the ball coming out of half. Instead, the defense came through huge, pushing the Bills backwards 10 yards with back to back sacks and eliminating any FG chance. 

 

Giovanni Bernard – I love Gio – especially in the passing game. I think it Gruden would be wise to study Sean Payton and the Saints and watch how they use Sproles. Bernard is the same type of player and causes the same type of nightmarish matchup problems.

 

Dane Sanzenbacher – I don’t understand why he is not used more. He gets open and catches the ball. The one-handed grab he had on 4^th and 15 was impressive and hopefully, might earn him some playing time.

  

The Bad:

Jermaine Gresham – If Gresham wants big money (and I am guessing he will), I don’t see how the Bengals pay him. The only thing he is good for is penalties, drops, fumbles and high blood pressure. Gresham put the Bengals in another hole on Sunday with his false start on 1^st down and dropped an opportunity to get the Bengals out of a hole on a well-placed Dalton pass on 3^rd and 12. Gresham remains one of the most frustrating Bengals of my life time. If not for Burfict’s 2 bogus unnecessary roughness penalties, Gresham would lead the team with 4 penalties (2 holds, 2 false starts).

 

Dalton Sacks – Dalton has to be more aware of the situation in the pocket and cannot continue to take sacks by holding onto the ball so long. In the 3^rd quarter, he took a 10 yard sack on front side on 3^rd and 5 at the Buffalo 24. If not for the great catch by Sanzenbacher, this would have cost the Bengals a FG. Dalton continues to hold onto the ball too long and look antsy in the pocket.

 

Adam Jones Coverage – How many weeks have teams been picking on this guy…and with success? I know, he had the big INT to seal the Patriots game and the game-changing FF against Pittsburgh, the he has been getting abused in coverage week in and week out (and the FF against Pittsburgh was only needed because he got badly burned for a big play by a backup TE!).

 

Series Before the Bills Game Tying Drive – 2 things I didn’t like about this series: 1) on 3^rd and 1, why not run BJGE? That is his strength and the biggest asset he brings to this team. 2) They didn’t get the first down with Bernard, and were left with 4^th and 1 foot – get the first down and the game is over. If you trust your defense as much as they apparently did, take the QB up the middle and end the game. If you don’t get it, asking your defense to not allow a practice squad QB to go 40 yards shouldn’t be too hard (though it obviously was).

 Referees – I agree with the NFL trying to get the dangerous head shots out of the game, but it is getting to the point where the defense can no longer play football. The 2 unnecessary roughness penalties on Burfict were/should be embarrassing to the league.

 

The Ugly:

Dalton’s Pick – There are non-concerning interceptions, aggressive interceptions and concerning interceptions. This interception falls into the latter category. A QB with the experience of Dalton cannot make this mistake. I had a number of issues with this pick: 1) Dalton seemed to not see the defender, 2) Dalton seemed as though he had his mind made up where he was going with the ball without taking into account the defense, 3) this pick likely cost the Bengals 3 points, 4) if not for a great defensive stand, it would have given the Bills 3, 5) this almost created a 6 point swing right before half with the Bills getting the ball after half.

 

Playing to Their Competition – How does the Bengals defense shut down Rodgers and Brady and then let Hoyer and Lewis beat them? I chalk it up to preparation and motivation, and I chalk that up to coaching. It is as if this Bengals defense needs outside motivation or a perceived challenge to play at the top of their game and that is concerning to me. Take a look at the numbers:

 

	Completion %	Yards	TD	INT	Rating	QBR
Cutler	63.0%	242	2	1	93.2	85.7
Roethlisberger	54.0%	251	1	1	73.1	44.2
Rodgers	60.0%	244	1	2	64.5	33.3
Brady	47.0%	197	0	1	52.2	16.8
Hoyer	65.0%	269	2	0	103.9	64.5
Lewis	59.0%	216	3*	0	100.5	16.2
* 1 Rushing TD (Lewis)

 

	Cutler/Ben/ Rodgers/Brady	Hoyer/Lewis
Completion %	56%	62%
YPG	233.5	242.5
TD	4	5*
INT	5	0
Rating	70.5	102.2
QBR	45	40.35
* 1 Rushing TD (Lewis)

 

 

Zimmer Defense in Crucial Situations – Zimmer Example 1: with a 14 point lead, 4^th and 8 on the Bengals 22, Zimmer dials up a blitz that puts the Bills best pass catching threat on a DE (Carlos Dunlap) – result = TD. Why blitz on 4^th and 8 when your defense was getting pressure with 4 rushers , and putting Dunlap in pass coverage? On Chandler? Really? That was Mickey Mouse bullsh*t. Zimmer Example 2: 1^st and 10 at the Bengals 40 with about 1:20 to play, up 7 and the only thing that can hurt you is getting beat deep…so Zimmer dials up another blitz (why?), bringing the safety (Nelson) who doesn’t get home and Newman gets beat for a 40 yard TD. What the hell was Zimmer doing in those two possessions? After the initial drive (69 yards, 7 pts), Zimmer’s defense went the next 42:15 giving up a grand total of 127 yards and 3 points. Then, in two 4^th quarter drives, the Bills put together 122 yards in a matter of 4:05 for 2 TDs. How does that happen?

 

Ability to Close a Game – I love Zimmer as a whole, but I do not trust Zimmer or Gruden to call plays to close a game for their life. Sunday was a prime example. See the two examples above for Zimmer. Gruden Example 1: the defense just let the Bills back into the game with a TD drive, and the Bengals are clinging to a 7 point lead with just over 10 minutes left to play, the Bengals take over on their own 20 – they scramble for 5 yards, run up the middle for -2, get a friendly holding call for a first down, and then they go run up the middle for -2, run up the middle for 0, and then an incomplete pass. Needing to kill clock and move the ball, the Bengals killed 3:00 and moved the ball a total of 6 yards, 5 of which they got via penalty. Gruden Example 2: with 3:00 left, facing 3^rd and 1 on their own 46, the Bengals could all but seal the game with a first down. They have one of the best short yardage backs in the NFL, and they run it up the middle with Bernard? BJGE best way to contribute on this team is getting the tough yards. His bread and butter is 3^rd and 4^th and short. Yet Gruden left him on the bench to watch Bernard fail to get the 1 yard.